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What is Dysgraphia? By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M. Ed. Sp.)

27/10/2014

Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects writing, which requires a complex set of motor and information processing skills. Dysgraphia makes the act of writing difficult. It can lead to problems with spelling, poor handwriting and putting thoughts on paper. People with dysgraphia can have trouble organizing letters, numbers and words on a line or page. This can result partly from:

Visual-spatial difficulties: trouble processing what the eye sees

Language processing difficulty: trouble processing and making sense of what the ear hears

As with all learning disabilities (LD), dysgraphia is a lifelong challenge, although how it manifests may change over time. A student with this disorder can benefit from specific accommodations in the learning environment. Extra practice learning the skills required to be an accomplished writer can also help.

What Are the Warning Signs of Dysgraphia?

Just having bad handwriting doesn’t mean a person has dysgraphia. Since dysgraphia is a processing disorder, difficulties can change throughout a lifetime. However since writing is a developmental process—children learn the motor skills needed to write, while learning the thinking skills needed to communicate on paper—difficulties can also overlap.

Dysgraphia: Warning Signs By Age

Young Children

Trouble With:

Tight, awkward pencil grip and body position

Avoiding writing or drawing tasks

Trouble forming letter shapes

Inconsistent spacing between letters or words

Poor understanding of uppercase and lowercase letters

Inability to write or draw in a line or within margins

Tiring quickly while writing

School-Age Children

Trouble With:

Illegible handwriting

Mixture of cursive and print writing

Saying words out loud while writing

Concentrating so hard on writing that comprehension of what's written is missed

Trouble thinking of words to write

Omitting or not finishing words in sentences

Teenagers and Adults

Trouble With:

Trouble organizing thoughts on paper

Trouble keeping track of thoughts already written down

Difficulty with syntax structure and grammar

Large gap between written ideas and understanding demonstrated through speech

What Strategies Can Help?

There are many ways to help a person with dysgraphia achieve success. Generally strategies fall into three main categories:

Accommodations: providing alternatives to written expression

Modifications: changing expectations or tasks to minimize or avoid the area of weakness

Remediation: providing instruction for improving handwriting and writing skills

Each type of strategy should be considered when planning instruction and support. A person with dysgraphia will benefit from help from both specialists and those who are closest to the person. Finding the most beneficial type of support is a process of trying different ideas and openly exchanging thoughts on what works best.

Although teachers and employers are required by law to make "reasonable accommodations" for individuals with learning disabilities, they may not be aware of how to help. Speak to them about dysgraphia and explain the challenges faced as a result of this learning disability.

Here are examples of how to teach individuals with dysgraphia to overcome some of their difficulties with written expression.

Early Writers

Be patient and positive, encourage practice and praise effort. Becoming a good writer takes time and practice.

Use paper with raised lines for a sensory guide to staying within the lines.

Try different pens and pencils to find one that’s most comfortable.

Practice writing letters and numbers in the air with big arm movements to improve motor memory of these important shapes. Also practice letters and numbers with smaller hand or finger motions.

Encourage proper grip, posture and paper positioning for writing. It’s important to reinforce this early as it’s difficult for students to unlearn bad habits later on.

Use multi-sensory techniques for learning letters, shapes and numbers. For example, speaking through motor sequences, such as "b" is "big stick down, circle away from my body."

Introduce a word processor on a computer early; however do not eliminate handwriting for the child. While typing can make it easier to write by alleviating the frustration of forming letters, handwriting is a vital part of a person's ability to function in the world.

Young Students

Encourage practice through low-stress opportunities for writing. This might include writing letters or in a diary, making household lists, or keeping track of sports teams.

Allow use of print or cursive—whichever is more comfortable.

Use large graph paper for math calculation to keep columns and rows organized.

Allow extra time for writing assignments.

Begin writing assignments creatively with drawing, or speaking ideas into a tape recorder.

Alternate focus of writing assignments—put the emphasis on some for neatness and spelling, others for grammar or organization of ideas.

Explicitly teach different types of writing—expository and personal essays, short stories, poems, etc.

Do not judge timed assignments on neatness and spelling.

Have students proofread work after a delay—it’s easier to see mistakes after a break.

Help students create a checklist for editing work—spelling, neatness, grammar, syntax, clear progression of ideas, etc.

Encourage use of a spell checker—speaking spell checkers are available for handwritten work.

Reduce amount of copying; instead, focus on writing original answers and ideas.

Have student complete tasks in small steps instead of all at once.

Find alternative means of assessing knowledge, such as oral reports or visual projects.

Teenagers and Adults

Many of these tips can be used by all age groups. It is never too early or too late to reinforce the skills needed to be a good writer.

Provide tape recorders to supplement note taking and to prepare for writing assignments.

Create a step-by-step plan that breaks writing assignments into small tasks (see below).

When organizing writing projects, create a list of keywords that will be useful.

Provide clear, constructive feedback on the quality of work, explaining both the strengths and weaknesses of the project, commenting on the structure as well as the information that is included.

Use assistive technology such as voice-activated software if the mechanical aspects of writing remain a major hurdle.

How to Approach Writing Assignments

Plan your paper (Pull together your ideas and consider how you want them in your writing.)

Organise your thoughts and ideas.

Create an outline or graphic organiser to be sure you’ve included all your ideas.

Make a list of key thoughts and words you will want to use in your paper.

Write a draft

This first draft should focus on getting your ideas on paper—don’t worry about making spelling or grammar errors. Using

a computer

is helpful because it will be easier to edit later on.

Edit your work

Check your work for proper spelling, grammar and syntax; use a spell checker if necessary.

Edit your paper to elaborate and enhance content—a thesaurus is helpful for finding different ways to make your point.

Revise your work, producing a final draft

Rewrite your work into a final draft.

Be sure to read it one last time before submitting it.

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Reading Skills: What to expect at different ages. By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M. Ed. Sp.)

20/10/2014

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Kids develop at their own pace, but generally can be expected to meet certain milestones. These are typical milestones for reading.

0-12 Months –

Begin to reach for soft-covered books
Look at and touch the pictures in a book
Make cooing or nonsense sounds to respond to a familiar story
Helps turn pages

12-36 Months –

Name familiar pictures such as dog, cup and baby
Answer questions about what they see in books
Pretend to read by turning pages and making up a story (24+ months)
Recite the words to favourite books
Recognise the cover of favourite books

3-4 years –

Know the correct way to hold and handle a book
Recognise that the words tell a story
Understand that the words are read from left to right and top to bottom
Start hearing rhyming words
Retells stories
Recognise about half the letters of the alphabet
Recognise and “read” familiar labels, signs and logos
Start matching letter sounds to letters
Perhaps recognise their own name and other often seen words

5 years –

Read some sight words
Use story language and vocabulary in play and conversation e.g. “the dump truck is here”, said the guy
Begin matching words they hear with words on a page
Recognise and match letter to letter-sounds
Identify the beginning and ending (and sometimes the middle) sounds/letters in words like cat or sit
Sound out simple words
Tell the who, what, when, where, why and how of a story
Put a story in order either by retelling or ordering pictures
Predict what happens next in a story
Begins writing or dictation their own stories
Sounds out new words using phonics or word families (such as adding the beginning sounds to at to read cat, bat, sat, hat)
Starts reading or asks to be read books for information as well as entertainment
Answers basic questions about what they have read

6-8 years –

Recognises up to 200 sight words
Uses context clues (pictures, surrounding words, topic-specific vocabulary) to decode unfamiliar words
Go back and re-reads when a mistake has been made (self-correcting)
Starts answering questions that requires them to think about what they have read
Starts writing stories using inventive spelling
Imitates the styles of favourite authors when writing

9-13 years –

Makes the move from learning to read to reading to learn
Reads with purpose (entertainment, information, directions etc.)
Explores different genres
Recognises words without hesitation
Puts the events of a story in order
Reads out loud with accuracy and inflection
Identifies and articulates the main idea
Summaries what has been read
Understands similes, metaphors and other descriptive devices
Finds meaning in what has been read

14-17 years –

Relates events in stories to their own lives
Compares and contrasts different reading materials
Discusses character motivation
Makes inferences/makes conclusions about a story
Supports a thesis/idea using examples from a story
Identifies examples of imagery and symbolism
Analyses, synthesises and evaluates ideas from texts

Learning to read isn’t always this clear cut, and not all children follow the same path. If your child isn’t meeting these milestones, consider talking to his doctor or teacher about whether an evaluation to look at his skills might be helpful. Once you have a better idea of your child’s strengths and weaknesses, you can find strategies to make reading easier.

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Self-Esteem and Children’s Learning Problems. By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M Ed S)

13/10/2014

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When a child’s academic performance falters or behaviour becomes a concern, parents and professionals can expend an enormous amount of energy on helping these two areas. Unfortunately an area of equal importance, self-esteem, is often neglected.

A child’s self-esteem can have a significant influence on their life. If we are to truly help a child struggling to learn, we need to pursue the goal of maximising self-esteem with the same fervour as literacy or other problems.

What is self-esteem?

Self-esteem is quite simply the way we feel about ourselves. Having good self-esteem means that we feel we are a worthwhile and special person. Self-esteem is determined by how we evaluate our capabilities and reflects our feelings of being accepted and valued by others. For children experiencing difficulty with learning, developing a positive self-esteem is arduous, as they tend to experience failure and negative feedback from others more than other children do.

Why is it important to have a positive self-esteem?

Having poor self-esteem can be more debilitating than having a learning difficulty. How a person views and values him or herself can have a significant impact on almost everything they do including their career, relationships, mental wellbeing and happiness. Research has shown that children who have good self-esteem:

• are usually healthier,

• have better interpersonal relationships,

• are bothered less by worries and stress and are not so often depressed,

• manage problems better,

• try new things without too much fear of failing,

• are more motivated, and

• have less behaviour problems.

Positive self-esteem can also have a marked effect upon a child’s academic performance by increasing their motivation, ability to focus and willingness to take risks.

How does a child’s self-esteem develop over time?

Self-esteem develops overtime starting from birth. The self-esteem of young children is generally positive and the children may overestimate their capabilities. For example, ask a four-year-old if they are good at running and most will immediately exclaim ‘yes!’ as well as demonstrate their talent to you.

The self-esteem of a young child will be global in nature and they may say that

‘I am a good boy or girl’. The self-esteem of younger children is based largely on the feedback from others, especially parents, about their goodness and worth. As a child grows and they are better able to integrate feedback and experiences from their environment, self-esteem becomes closer to their actual performance or reality. Overtime a child’s self-esteem also becomes more differentiated. For example, an eight-year-old child may be able to explain ‘I am good at maths, but not very good at reading”

At approximately 7 years of age (and possibly even younger) children are able to compare their skills and abilities with others around them such as classmates. Once this happens, their perceived abilities or weaknesses compared to similar aged children or siblings become an important contributing factor to their self-esteem.

Schooling and a child’s self-esteem

The self-esteem of many children is threatened when they start school and have to cope in an unfamiliar situation with lots of other new children and new rules to learn. Problems such as having trouble with schoolwork, being bullied or not having any friends can adversely affect self-esteem.

As children progress through school, self-esteem wanes. During preschool and the early primary years, children are typically confident as evidenced by their curiosity and eagerness to learn. As they move into higher grades, they become increasingly aware of how their performance compares with that of their peers and more realistic about their capabilities.

Once a child has low self-esteem, it can be very difficult to reverse their feeling of worthlessness and they enter a cycle that perpetuates and enhances their negative feelings.

How can parents promote positive self-esteem in their children?

For many parents a primary goal in raising their children is instilling in them a sense of value and encouraging them to feel good about themselves. There are various strategies that a parent may use to assist their child to develop positive self-esteem. Most of the strategies are based on common sense and cover things such as:

• your relationship with your child,

• creating a safe haven,

• how to praise your child’s efforts,

• how and when to criticise behaviour and your expectations of your child,

• understanding your child’s strengths and interests,

• being open about your own strengths and weaknesses,

• not comparing your child’s performance to others, and

• ensuring that your child experiences success.

The self-esteem of all children should be actively facilitated. This is especially vital for children experiencing difficulty learning as their self-esteem is challenged constantly by negative messages and the experience of failure.

Parents play a significant role in shaping their child’s opinion of themselves and they need to actively employ strategies to enhance it where possible.

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Types of Tests for Reading, Writing and Math. By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M Ed S)

11/10/2014

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At a Glance

There are many tests that measure ability in reading, writing and math.
Some tests may be given a few times a year to track progress toward academic goals.
Tests measure overall ability, not specific strengths.

If your child has trouble with reading, writing or math, in-depth testing can help you understand why she’s struggling. It also helps to determine if she can get special education services.

In an evaluation, the professional doing the testing selects the type of test. The decision is based on personal preference and the kind of issues your child is having.

The results of the testing represent your child’s overall ability in that area. They don’t identify specific skills she has. Scores for these tests are reported on a standard scale. Students’ raw scores are converted into a common scale so that test results can be more easily compared between classes and school districts. It also makes it possible to compare your child’s test results over time.

Here are some tests that are commonly given.

Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI)

What it measures: Reading comprehension.

How it works: A computer-based test asks students to read fiction and nonfiction passages and then answer questions about them. It’s “computer-adaptive.” This means that if a student gets a question wrong, the next question will be slightly easier.

What the scores mean: The scores point to the child’s current reading level. Schools can then set response to intervention (RTI) goals accordingly.

Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (WRMT-III)

What it measures: Reading level.

How it works: Kids are asked to identify letters and read words aloud. They’re also asked to show an understanding of what they’ve read.

What the scores mean: Results are given as standard scores, percentile ranks and age- and grade-equivalents. They point to the child’s current reading level.

Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT-5)

What it measures: Spoken (oral) reading rate, reading accuracy and reading comprehension.

How it works: Kids are asked to read passages aloud and then answer multiple-choice questions about what they’ve just read.

What the scores mean: The scores measure reading fluency and comprehension. Because the test has an oral component, it may also pick up on issues with expressive language.

Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing

What it measures: The ability to name letters and words.

How it works: Children are asked to quickly name letters, numbers, colors and objects.

What the scores mean: Results are given as standard scores and percentile ranks for a child’s age. It can help evaluators understand specific reasons why children are having trouble with reading.

Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE-2)

What it measures: Ability to pronounce written words.

How it works: Kids are asked to pronounce real and made-up written words.

What the scores mean: The scores measure reading fluency and comprehension. In grade school, results can help identify kids who need help with their “word” reading skills. In older kids, the test can help identify specific learning issues like dyslexia.

Rapid Automatized Naming Tasks

What it measures: Ability to name things, which can be a predictor of ability to read.

How it works: Kids are tested on how quickly they can name objects, letters, symbols and pictures.

What the scores mean: Seeing where and when kids struggle with this kind of task can be useful in creating strategies to help them read.

Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3)

What it measures: Reading skills of children ages 3½ to 8½.

How it works: Kids are asked to identify letters of the alphabet, pictures and text.

What the scores mean: The results can point to reading strengths and weaknesses. They can also document progress in early reading intervention programs.

Wide Range Achievement Test 4

What it measures: Basic academic skills in reading, spelling and math for ages 5 and up.

How it works: Kids are tested in areas such as word reading, sentence comprehension, spelling, counting and math problems.

What the scores mean: Initial results can point to areas that need improvement. Re-evaluations can monitor children’s progress with RTI.

KeyMath–3 Diagnostic Assessment

What it measures: Essential math concepts and skills.

How it works: Kids are tested on math concepts that are appropriate for their age. These may include addition and subtraction, percentages and interpreting data.

What the scores mean: Grade- and age-based standard scores can show areas of strength and weakness.

Test of Mathematical Abilities (TOMA-3)

What it measures: Math abilities in kids 8 and up.

How it works: Kids are tested on math concepts like word problems and math symbols. They’re also tested on their general attitude toward math.

What the scores mean: The results help identify students who are significantly behind their peers in math knowledge. They also measures how far behind they are. They could be below average, poor or very poor.

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (Subtests)

What they measure: Depending on a kids’ issues, testing may assess reading, written language and math skills.

How it works: Tests measure skills like math problem-solving, reading comprehension and spelling.

What the scores mean: Age-based standard scores and percentile ranks can show areas of strength and weakness in a range of areas.

A school evaluation team will most likely be working with you and your child. Team members will explain the tests to you, as well as the results. Some tests may be repeated during the year to monitor your child’s progress.

After a public school evaluation, you might also decide to have your child evaluated privately. All of this can take time and energy. But the results will help you understand your child’s challenges and put everyone on track toward finding solutions.

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What is an Education Specialist? By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M Ed S)

9/10/2014

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How to Improve Your Child’s Creative Writing Skills. By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M Ed Spec)

1/10/2014

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The ability to write well is vitally important to do well in school and in a career, as many jobs require writing, even if only to communicate via email. Traditionally, little teaching of creative writing has been done until the upper primary, and even then, it often takes a back seat to other subjects. It is possible, though, to improve your child's creative writing skills through encouragement, supporting the teacher's efforts at home, and teaching some writing skills yourself. The following steps provide you with ideas and methods to help make your child a better writer.

Read to and with your child. Reading and writing go hand-in-hand; good writers are well read, not just in grammar and usage, but in various subjects also, and well versed in various writing styles. Your child's teacher and local librarian can help you select books that are appropriate to your child’s age and interests.

In addition to reading to your child, have your child read to you, and, if you have more than 1 child, have the older children read to the younger ones.

Play games with words. Word games include not just commercially available board or card games, but brainstorming games as well. Following are examples of both commercial and brainstorming games you can play with your child, some of which you can follow with actual writing projects:

Scrabble, Unspeakable Words, Bananagrams, or Boggle are great vocabulary building games. With Unspeakable Words, which requires players to keep a list of already used words, you can use that word list as a list of story prompts.
Games such as You've Been Sentenced provide opportunities for sentence building. In addition to playing the regular game, you can have your child take a group of game tiles and try to come up with the most ridiculous sentence he or she can think of.

Games such as Scattergories, Mad-Libs, and Magnetic Poetry provide excellent opportunities for brainstorming, helping your child get into the habit of thinking of story ideas or words to use.

For young children, you can bake biscuits or cookies in the shape of letters or words and then have them "eat their words" when they recognize them.

Write instructions on slips of paper, then attach one to a ball or Frisbee (or stuff it in an old sock to play indoors). One player throws the ball to another, who then has to perform the action on the paper before attaching a slip of his or her own and throwing it to the next player.

Inspired by Remy Charlip's book "Fortunately," in which "fortunately" good things happened to a young boy followed by "unfortunately" bad things, you can make a list of "fortunatelies" e.g. have the child write down the corresponding "unfortunately": "Fortunately, I came into a large inheritance when my rich uncle died."/"Unfortunately, I had to spend most of it fixing up the large house he also left me."

Provide your children with a place and materials for creative writing. Just as children should have a quiet place to study and do their other homework, the same is true for their writing assignments. Ideally, this would be a desk in the child's room, away from the television. A child's writing area should include the following materials:

•A notebook or journal.

•Pens, pencils, and erasers.

•Stationery.

As the child gets older and gets access to the family computer, he or she will want to write on the computer. Encourage this but also encourage the use of the stationery to provide a personal touch to thank you notes and other such correspondence.

•An age-appropriate dictionary. Special purpose dictionaries such as a rhyming dictionary aren't warranted unless and until the child shows a definite interest in rhyming poetry or whatever form of writing can be assisted with a special purpose dictionary.

•Consider a thesaurus. A thesaurus isn't necessary until your child starts working with synonyms to add colour to his or her writing, at which point it can be a big help.
Encourage daily writing. The best way to improve writing skills, no matter the writer's age, is through regular practice. You can suggest your child write about his or her day at school or about a trip to the shops after coming home. You can also provide writing prompts in the form of pictures clipped from various sources or picture books without words.
Get your child to think about a writing project before doing any actual writing. Most writing begins by planning the story, article, or poem before actual putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. You can use any of the following approaches to encourage your child to think about the structure and content of a writing project:

•Ask your child questions about the project. For story writing, questions can revolve around the story's setting (e.g., "When does the story take place?"), main conflict ("What is the most important event?"), and action/resolution ("How does Johnny get Green Lantern's power ring back to him?"). For a report, appropriate questions can revolve around the journalist's "who, what, where, when, why, and how." If your child expresses difficulty in deciding what to write about, ask questions about things he or she has done in the past and particularly enjoyed, someone he or she particularly admires, or something else centred on the child.

•Play scribe. Write down your child's thoughts and read them back. You can do this with very young children to help them learn to connect spoken and written words or with older children to help them focus on their assignment.

Write along with them. While it's okay to help with the actual writing if asked, "write along with them" actually means doing the writing assignment yourself alongside your child. Doing the assignment yourself and showing the results to your child shows him or her that you value creative writing skills.
Review your child's work. Look over your child's writing and gently suggest places where he or she can make the work better (e.g., "You might want to check the spelling of these 3 words.") Overall, though, you should be looking for writing skills your child has displayed proficiently and point them out; "Your description of 'Post 11 stood in the distance beckoning us to go on' told me how much you would have enjoyed going further on the nature hike."

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About ALA

The Australian Literacy Academy (ALA) is a private English tutoring centre in Castle Hill, NSW dedicated to helping children of all levels and spectrums reach their full potential in the area of literacy: reading, writing, spelling, comprehension and speaking and listening.

What is Dysgraphia? By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M. Ed. Sp.)

Reading Skills: What to expect at different ages. By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M. Ed. Sp.)

Self-Esteem and Children’s Learning Problems. By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M Ed S)

Types of Tests for Reading, Writing and Math. By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M Ed S)

What is an Education Specialist? By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M Ed S)

How to Improve Your Child’s Creative Writing Skills. By Liana Chandler (Bach EC, M.T & M Ed Spec)

About ALA

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